Baby diaper and method of making it



June 15, 1954 F; s. NICHOLS 2,681,063

BABY DIAPER AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Original Filed Oct. 3, 1951 A fave/ W1 6 fi'wrzmszlzwkazf i W Y/QWAAW Patented June 15, 1954 BABY DIAPER AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Frederick S. Nichols, Melrose, Mass.

Original application October 3, 1951, Serial No. 249,467. Divided and this application July 16, 1953, Serial No. 368,357

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to babies diapers and to a method of making them.

Heretofore diapers for babies have usually been made of a single thickness of cloth which is folded by hand before it is used. Such a diaper is now usually folded four-fold into a rectangular shape instead of the triangular shape formerly more frequently employed. As is well known, it is now customary in many households to send the diapers out to be laundered and many laundries specialize in diaper service or provide it. Heretofore, such laundries have washed, dried and then folded the diapers and delivered them in this condition to the customers. The folding operation is a slow one which is done by hand, and, where thousands of diapers are handled, a large amount of labor is required.

My present invention provides a diaper which is prefabricated in folded condition and therefore does not require folding at the laundry or before being applied.

It is desirable that the diapers be folded to form a relatively thick panel in the middle with thinner edge portions; that the parts be permanently secured in position by stitching but that the stitching along the folds be completely enclosed so that it will not wear rapidly, nor catch and retain dirt during laundering nor chafe the child when in use, and these features are also provided.

In accordance with my novel method of making my diaper, a long web of cloth is folded and in such a way that a tube having a longitudinal panel composed of several thicknesses of cloth is formed, after which the tube is turned inside out to bring the thickened panel on the inside of the tube so that the stitching is concealed. Thereafter, the tube is out transversely into separate diapers and the cut edges are overedged to retain the panel in its proper position and to prevent fraying of the cut edges. This procedure does away with the folding of individual diapers and they are not handled individually except during the overedging operation.

The novel construction of the diaper embodying my invention and the novel method of making it lend themselves to quantity production at extremely low cost while producing a thoroughly satisfactory diaper both to the user and to the laundry.

The novel diaper embodying my invention and the method of making it will be readily understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a portion of a web cloth, which 2, has been folded lengthwise and stitched with the first line of stitching.

Fig. 2 shows on a larger scale the web after the second fold.

Fig. 3 shows the condition after the second line of stitching has been put in.

Fig. 4 shows the condition after the tube has been turned inside out.

Fig. 5 shows on a smaller scale the tube preparatory to cutting into individual diapers.

Fig. 6 shows the finished diaper on a much smaller scale.

In practice I make my improved diaper of two superposed thicknesses of suitable cloth which together constitute a layer but it is obvious that a layer may be composed of one, two or even more single thicknesses of cloth. In the drawingseach of the two thicknesses composing a layer is indicated by a single heavy line.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 4, the novel diaper embodying my invention except for overedging comprises middle panel A composed of four layers of cloth ll, l2, l3 and I4 secured together by stitching, each layer being composed of two thicknesses as indicated by blank lines in the drawing, and two side portions B and C, the side portion 13 being composed of portions of the layers I3 and I4 while the side portion C is composed of portions of the layers II and Hi.

When completed, the diaper may be considered as a flattened tube one side of which is formed by the layer M, while the other side is formed by the layer II and that part of the layer l3 which forms the panel B. Between these two sides lie the layers l2 and part of the layer 13 which form the other thicknesses of middle panel A. The several layers are held in position by two rows of stitching l5 and it running lengthwise of the web and by overedging as indicated in Fig. 6 at [1 and [8 which runs crosswise of the web.

In manufacturing the improved diaper embodying my invention, I first fold a web of cloth lengthwise in the middle, the fold line being indicated at [9 and the two side edges 20 and 2! being superposed as shown in Fig. 1. The two layers thus formed are then stitched together by the line 15 of through-and-through stitching, this line of stitching [5 being placed at a distance from the side edges 20 and 2| which is substantially equal to the width of the middle panel A which is to be produced. Next the cloth is folded as shown in Fig. -2 in such a way that the side edges 20 and 2| are about over and in line with a fold. line 30 forming fold 3|. The

left-hand portion is thus made up of the four layers ll, I2, l3 and I4. A line of stitching IE is then put in close to the side edges 20 and 2! and to the fold line 30 and secures all four superposed layers together. The tube thus formed is then turned inside out and the middle panel A brought to a middle position forming the two side panels B and each of about equal width and each composed of two layers which are now designated 22, 23 and 24, 25 forming folded edges 32 and 33 respectively. In this condition an additional fold 35 is formed connecting layer H with the layer 24 through the fold 33 and to conceal the stitching [6. Thus at one edge, the panel A has six layer portions, i. e., comprising the layers Hl, one edge of the layer 24, and a layer portion 36 between the folds 39 and 35. The long tube thus formed is then out crosswise into suitable lengths for the individual diapers, the cuts being indicated at 26, 21, 23 in Fig. 5, and the cut edges are overedged as shown at H and i8 in Fig. 6. The overedging prevents fraying and holds the panel A permanently in its proper position with respect to the two side panels B and C.

When completed the diaper has a central fourfold panel only folded edges being exposed, and with the stitching completely enclosed. The diaper, therefore, requires no folding after laundering but always retains its folds and the four fold panel in the proper position. It has no exposed or raw edges, and no exposed seams to wear, chafe or catch and retain dirt. When made by my novel process, the diaper can be made 4 rapidly by production methods and with a minimum of hand labor.

The diaper forming the subject matter of the present application is an improved form of a diaper and manufacturing method described in a companion application filed on the same date as the present application. Consequently, the claims hereof are limited to the particular construction shown, broad claims being made in said companion application.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 249,467, filed October 3, 1951.

I claim:

1. The method of making a diaper which comprises folding a piece of cloth lengthwise down the middle, stitching the superposed layers together by a seam running lengthwise at a distance from the free edges of the superposed layers about equal to the width of the middle panel which is to be formed, folding the portion lying between the line of stitching and the free edges over with said free edges in line with a folded edge, stitching said free edges and the two layers of the folded edge together by a line of stitching, and turning the tube thus formed inside out and bringing the portion between the two lines of stitching into middle position to form a middle panel.

2. In the method as set forth in claim 1, cutting the tube crosswise into individual diapers.

3. In the method as set forth in claim 2, overedging the cut edges.

No references cited. 

